This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art, which may be related to various aspects of the present invention that are described or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
A computer, such as a server, is typically disposed in an air conditioned building or room. Further, an air conditioning system may be dedicated to maintaining the computer and its electronic components at acceptable operating temperatures. However, the temperature of the air near the computer (e.g., near a fan intake of a computer) may be several degrees higher than room temperature. Unfortunately, the air around the computers may be warmer than desirable due to poor flow patterns of the air conditioning, radiant or exhaust heat from the computers, and so forth. At the cost of greater energy consumption, the air conditioning system may be adjusted to lower the air temperature in the building or room to maintain the computer at acceptable operating conditions. However, the lower room temperature may not solve the problem of excess heat near the computer. For example, the heated air that exhausts from the computer may linger in close proximity to the computer, increasing the temperature of the air entering the computer and, thereby, reducing the effectiveness of forced-convection cooling within the computer.
For the case of dedicated cooling systems, such as a computer room air conditioning (CRAC) system, the associated plenum pressure-drop losses, poor hot-air recirculation, and the relatively high air-volume demand of non-homogenous racks, for example, generally result in thermal problems even with well-designed servers and server racks. Again, this poor thermal performance is often compensated for by increasing the heat transfer by the CRAC, and therefore, increasing the accompanying energy costs.